A crewman works feverishly to get the No. 97 Ford back onto the track. Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Busch's championship hopes take a hit on Lap 3

Unlike Robby Gordon and Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch likely won't face penalties for confronting Scott Riggs' crew chief on pit road during the Sylvania 300.

Busch crashed on Lap 3 of the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire after contact from Scott Riggs, damaging his hopes for a second consecutive Nextel Cup title.

Inside the Chase Point standings after Loudon Pos. Driver Pts. Behind 1. T. Stewart 5,230 -- 2. G. Biffle 5,210 -20 3. R. Newman 5,190 -40 tie R. Wallace 5,190 -40 5. M. Kenseth 5,180 -50 6. J. Johnson 5,177 -53 7. M. Martin 5,176 -54 8. J. Mayfield 5,135 -95 9. C. Edwards 5,121 -109 10. Ku. Busch 5,088 -142 • Results, click here • Standings, click here Final lapsNewman and Stewart battle for the checkered flag Second placeTony Stewart on his runner-up finish at Loudon Sylvania 300Complete race video highlights from New Hampshire Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Busch finished 35th and fell five spots to 10th in the standings.

After the crash, Busch parked his Ford in the garage and walked back out to pit road to talk to Rodney Childers, Riggs' crew chief. NASCAR has a rule that a driver can't enter another competitor's pit area, but NASCAR said Busch was "reasonably in control of himself."

"I just wanted to tell his crew chief that he started his car way too loose so hopefully they don't hurt anyone else in the Chase," Busch said. "There are guys you race with, there are guys you can't. He [Riggs] doesn't really know where is most of the time."

NASCAR didn't require Busch to meet with them after the race, but said the incident would be discussed further with Busch.

"He told our officials what he wanted to do when he walked down pit road," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's Vice President for Corporate Communications. "We knew he was going down to have a decent conversation with the crew chief of the other car, and he did. He conducted himself in a professional fashion."

Riggs said the incident was purely accidental and wasn't payback for an incident the two had in Indianapolis last month.

"That is just racing, he knows it. He always has harsh words for everybody else's driving, but he never does anything wrong," Riggs said. "He did the same thing to us at Indy, took us out, and he was never man enough to come talk to me about it or anything.

"I don't feel like I owe him an apology or anything. If he can be a big enough man to apologize about that, we can talk today. If he talks to me, we can handle it ourselves."

The crash doesn't end Busch's title hopes, but he fell 142 points behind leader Tony Stewart, who finished second. The accident stops a recent run of outstanding finishes for Busch, who entered the Chase with two wins in his past seven races.

"Now we have to go and attack every race and win," Busch said. "We have to go to Dover and expect to win and try to build our points back up."